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About the Campaign
We are a group of people from around British Columbia who want to remove barriers to accessing prescription contraception.
We set up the AccessBC organizing committee in January 2017. Since this time we have done everything from conduct research, mobilize the public, meet with MLAs and ministerial staff, engage in awareness raising and outreach activities, and consult with government, all towards the goal of making all prescription contraception in BC free.
The AccessBC Committee
Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff
Chair and Co-Founder
Dr. Phelps Bondaroff became passionate about access to prescription contraception after he encountered universally available free prescription contraception while completing his graduate studies in the UK. After returning home and discovering that this was not the case in Canada, he helped launch the AccessBC Campaign.
He has a PhD in politics and international studies from the University of Cambridge, and BAs in political science and international relations from the University of Calgary. In 2022 he was elected as Councillor in the District of Saanich. He is active as an independent academic researcher, and works as the Director of Research for OceansAsia, and the Research Coordinator for the BC Humanist Association.
Devon Black
Co-Founder and National Liaison
Devon has been working on sexual and reproductive health issues for over 15 years, starting as an intern with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada’s International Women’s Health Program in 2008. Since then, she has kept up her focus on sexual and reproductive rights in her education, volunteer work, and career, including volunteer work with the University of Ottawa Women’s Centre and the White Ribbon Society for Maternal Health. More recently, Devon has served as secretary and president of Island Sexual Health Society's board of directors.
Devon supports universal access to contraception because she knows what a difference improved sexual and reproductive health access can make for individuals and for communities. She hopes you’ll do what you can to support the fight for free contraception!
Dr. Ruth Habte
Campaign Organizer
Dr. Ruth Habte is an Obstetrics and Gynaecology Resident at the University of British Columbia. She completed her undergraduate degree in pharmacy and practiced as a pharmacist in Manitoba while attending medical school at the University of Manitoba. She is passionate about reproductive health, global health, and advocacy.
Ruth believes her background gives her a unique perspective on how access to contraceptives affects people’s lives. She supports universal coverage of prescription contraceptives, as she has witnessed too many instances where people were unable to access contraception due to cost.
Jessica L. Jimmo
Municipal Council Outreach Coordinator
Jessica completing a Master of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University and has a Bachelor of Social Work from Douglas College. It came as a surprise when she learned that not all contraceptives were covered in the mandatory student extended health benefits program offered by the university. Jessica recognizes that as a policy, universal and no-cost prescription contraception just makes good sense and the social, fiscal, health and equity benefits are irrefutable!
Jessica is most passionate about anti-violence and social equity initiatives; developing policy that supports under-served populations such as women, youth and Indigenous Peoples. While completing her MPP Jessica is employed as a bc211 Information and Referral Specialist and Victim Support Worker with VictimLink, and also volunteering for her community through initiatives she is passionate about including as a member of the board for the Working Gear Clothing Society for close to ten years. During her BSW she worked with Rise Women’s Legal Centre and an emergency women’s shelter with the Greater Vancouver Elizabeth Fry Society. Her previous employment experience includes 7+ years working with young people through MCFD care and at an alternative education school plus 2+ years as an Employment Resource Specialist.
Sophie Choong
Marketing Director
Sophie is a high school student from the White Rock area involved in social justice and political advocacy in her local community. She became interested in the issue of reproductive rights after hearing about the inaccessibility of contraception and reproduction services across the province, especially for marginalized groups. She hopes to go into immigration law in the future.
Kennadie Chaudhary
Campaign Coordinator
Kennadie has her MSc in Global Health with a focus in Globalization and Equity from McMaster University. She started with AccessBC as a practicum student and has since taken on the role of Campaign Coordinator. She is passionate about reproductive justice and wrote her MSc scholarly paper on the relationship between the state of reproductive justice and provincial leadership in Manitoba. Kennadie currently resides in Winnipeg and works as a Research Analyst for a consulting firm. In her spare time, she volunteers as a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Winnipeg, and loves connecting with friends, camping, and travelling.
Erica Cronin
Erica is a registered nurse. She works in adult medicine, palliative care, labour, and delivery. She has volunteered for the Sexual Assault Response Team for six years. Erica is passionate about sexual health and reproductive justice.
Jasmine MacGregor
Jasmine is a second year student studying political science, French and communications at the University of Victoria. In her spare time she enjoys thrifting, volunteering at the UVSS Food Bank and Free Store, drinking coffee, and knitting. She is the co-president of the UVic NDP and the co-research chair of Equal Voice UVic. She joined the AccessBC team because she believes that cost should not be a barrier to accessing contraception.
Jelayna Van Dyke
Jelayna is completing a degree in Political Science and Gender Studies as majors and Art History as a minor at the University of Victoria. After completing her post-secondary schooling, she plans to become a sexual health educator. In her spare time she loves to spend time with friends, go out for coffee or food, and consume all types of art and media.
Mykayla Riley
Mykayla is a recent graduate of SFU where she focused her studies on economic geography and the uneven distribution of land and wealth. Mykayla is driven by the desire to help all beings, including animals, as she is a devout vegan and animal rights activist. Growing up in rural northern BC, Mykayla witnessed a lack of education regarding women's reproductive rights and believes that free universal contraceptives can be used to educate and empower women in all communities in BC.
Samantha Castleman
Samantha Castleman is a 22 year old activist. As a young woman who grew up with financial barriers, she became aware earlier on to how difficult accessing birth control can be. She believes Canadians should have the right to all forms of contraception, and that it should be covered in our health care system due to it being necessary for many to pursue happy, healthy, and productive lives. Her lifelong passions include psychology, international politics, archery, diplomacy, and art. She hopes to work in the public sector one day.
Declan Roberts
Declan is a 22 year old UVic political science and literature graduate. He has worked on municipal, provincial, and federal election campaigns while also working on his degree. Declan wants to find ways to better the world through a myriad of means, whether it be through direct action, or more indirect campaigns. Growing up he routinely saw the difficult choices imposed on his friends that involved deciding between being able to pay for birth control and being able to pay for other necessities. This is what spurred on his desire to work on this campaign, and ensure that others no longer needed to face that choice.
Declan Roberts
Declan is a 22 year old UVic political science and literature graduate. He has worked on municipal, provincial, and federal election campaigns while also working on his degree. Declan wants to find ways to better the world through a myriad of means, whether it be through direct action, or more indirect campaigns. Growing up he routinely saw the difficult choices imposed on his friends that involved deciding between being able to pay for birth control and being able to pay for other necessities. This is what spurred on his desire to work on this campaign, and ensure that others no longer needed to face that choice.
Samuel Kirk
Sam is a medical student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He joined the campaign with the hope of making access to contraception more equitable for BC residents, regardless of their gender or ability to pay for it.
Justin Kulik
Justin is a student hailing from Kelowna. He has campaigned on matters close to his heart. Most notably, he launched a petition regarding food waste from supermarkets which has, to date, received over 200 000 signatures. He has also worked on various campaigns including the 2018 British Columbia Referendum on Electoral Reform and was a volunteer for the BC Humanist Association House of Prayer Project. Justin recently ran for parliament in Kelowna-Lake Country.
Still young, he plans to continue working on issues that matter to him, and to those around him. Justin encourages the young people of British Columbia to stand up and make their voices heard.
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Tina Madani Kia
Tina is a student at the University of British Columbia studying Immunology and Physiology. She has always been interested in social justice and after taking a public health course about pharmacare, she also became interested in public policy and social movements. She hopes to one day work in healthcare.
Amelia Brooker
Amelia is a student at the University of British Columbia, and is passionate about English literature and creative writing. She is a member of the British Columbia Youth Parliament and is committed to making positive change in Canadian government. She joined the AccessBC campaign with a personal interest in universal pharmacare and reproductive health. Amelia would like to encourage others to stand up for what they believe in, and let younger people know especially that their activism can make a difference.
Alexis Cronk
Alexis is a 3rd year Business student and varsity athlete on the UVic Women's Rowing team. Her inspiration to get involved in gender equity is rooted in her passion to make sport an inclusive and positive environment for all. Also having studied Earth Sciences and Environmental Studies at UVic, Alexis believes that gender equity in all aspects contributes to a sustainable and just society.
Melanie Kleinschmidt
Melanie is 22 year old political science and gender studies student at the University of Victoria. She is a passionate advocate for progressive grassroots initiatives that aid in the production of a society that boldly stands for justice, emancipation, and equality. Melanie wants to eliminate the barriers that BC residents faced in obtaining prescription birth control. In her spare time she enjoys re-purposing objects from local thrift stores, being in nature playing with her dog, and pursuing musical endeavours.
Sophie Heizer
Sophie is a multimedia journalist born on Vancouver Island in the rural community of Yellow Point. A dual Canadian-Australian citizen, she completed one year of university education at the University of Victoria before moving to Melbourne, Australia, to complete her studies in journalism at RMIT University. During the final year of her degree Sophie was offered a permanent role at The Conversation, an independent source of news and views sourced from Australia's academic and research community. She acted as the Commissioning Editor of the Education section for just under two years before returning to the island to become a full-time Canadian again.
Sophie has a strong background in politics and education, having studied, written about, and published on the topics for the past five years. She also has a broad spectrum of interests beyond politics and education including rugby (which she also currently plays), sewing and crafts, art, travel, books, podcasts, philosophy, food, science, self-care, and her cat Lenny.
Dr. Karyn Fulcher
Karyn is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria. Her approach to research is about as interdisciplinary as it gets: anthropology, sociology, and education, with some public health thrown in for good measure. She loves learning about almost any topic related to sexuality or sexual health, but her research focuses on the sexual health and well-being of young people, sex education, and reproductive justice, including access to contraception.
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Nazanin Moghadami
Nazanin is an Iranian-Canadian feminist and clinical counsellor, based in East Vancouver. She has a masters degree in counselling psychology and in-depth training in trauma-informed care. Nazanin believes that in order to improve a person’s mental health, there needs to be change on many levels, not only person to person in the therapy room; but that policy and systemic changes can vastly impact individuals’ mood and mental health. That is why, when she is not working in her private practice, she sits on boards and advisory committees, works on campaigns like this one, and engages folks in both community and formal political levels.
She believes removing barriers (especially cost) for women and anyone with uteruses, accessing prescription contraception can positively impact their quality of life, reduce stigma, increase sexual health, and empower folks to make independent decisions about their bodies. She thinks this would be very helpful for young people, those living in rural BC, people of color, and those who live with endometriosis (a condition impacting about 1,800,000 Canadians).
Dr. Katelyn Mudry
Dr. Katelyn Mudry, ND, MSc is a naturopathic physician dedicated to increasing quality health care access for all. Through her clinical experience Katelyn knows access to essential treatments and medications, specifically birth control, is essential for quality health care. As a community health advocate she does many free public health talks and is an advisor for local youth health organizations. In addition to supporting access bc she offers trauma informed pelvic exams and paps and is a vocal advocate for reproductive justice and preventative health. She lives and works in Cranbrook and Kimberley BC.
Marisa Levesque
Social Media Organizer
Marisa is a medical student at UBC’s Southern Medical Program in Kelowna, BC, after completing a Bachelor of Science in Biology at UBC Okanagan. Marisa is passionate about reproductive justice and equitable access to quality healthcare. She was excited to be able to join the AccessBC campaign knowing just how much cost can be one of many barriers in safely accessing prescription contraception, in particular for young people growing up in smaller communities.
Maureen Curran
Maureen is a teacher, mom, environmentalist, avid cyclist and social justice activist. She has lived in New West and Coquitlam for over 20 years but hails from Toronto. Her feisty mom raised her to never be complacent, to use her opportunities to help others and work hard to end injustice of all kinds - she'd be a keen supporter of AccessBC too, if she was still around.
Lisa Seidel
Lisa is an elementary school teacher based in Squamish. Born in North Vancouver, Lisa received her Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education at UBC and has held various positions teaching in music programs in private and public education sectors in Vancouver, West Vancouver and Squamish. Before becoming a teacher, Lisa had seriously considered becoming a nurse and had done volunteer work and study in public health initiatives in harm reduction, public education and outreach. Lisa is passionate about promoting AccessBC’s mandate for free contraception and improved sexual health education as a way to improve gender equity and to build a strong foundation for sustained child, adolescent and family well-being.
Parveer Pandher
Parveer is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying biology at UBC. She’s passionate about advocating for reproductive health and is the co-founder of The Red Badge Foundation, an organization that aims to provide menstrual hygiene products to marginalized women across BC. She is interested in learning about the barriers that diverse populations face when accessing reproductive services and wants to help provide solutions to these barriers. Parveer also hopes to end the stigma around reproductive and sexual health by educating others on issues surrounding these topics.
Sydney Hara
Sydney is a 22 year old SFU geography graduate with a passion for lifting up others. She works in learning and development, as well as in group fitness. Sydney got involved in AccessBC because she believes free prescription contraception is an attainable and affordable way to combat gender inequality. She has a passion for social justice, is channelling her energy into the campaign because it is good for public health, good for women, and good for the economy, which in turn is good for everyone.
Emily Wiesenthal
Emily is a medical student in UBC's Southern Medical Program and a settler living on the unceded territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) People. Prior to starting medical school, she completed an honours degree in Gender Studies at the University of Victoria as a Loran Scholar. Her academic and activist work is rooted in a fierce belief in reproductive justice, gender-inclusive sexual health, harm reduction, and community care.
Anahita Seraji
Anahita is a 3rd-year biology student at UBC pursuing a career as a cardiothoracic surgeon. She is also a photographer and filmmaker. She recently won first runner-up for the Judges Awards in the ConnectHer Filmestival (2021) with the short film "Wash Your Hands of My Blood" about period poverty, child marriage, and the importance of girls' education in India. In addition, she is researching women's generalized fear of men to address the #NotAllMen and #YesAllWomen discrepancies. She uses behaviorist learning principles to determine why women experience a shared fear of men and how their fear is utilized to reinforce their prescribed social role. Furthermore, she is also researching ways health care practitioners can provide affirmative abortion care to diverse populations.
Anahita is passionate about any work that promotes gender equity and aims to address the disconnect between men's perception of women's experiences and the reality of women's and those who identify as women's experiences. She believes that access to contraception should not be a gendered issue, and thus, it should be equally promoted and accessible to all.
Thea Baines
Thea is an international relations and history student at the University of British Columbia. As someone who has been involved in activism and politics for her whole life, Thea is excited and honored to be joining the amazing group of people on the AccessBC team. Thea is involved in a variety of social justice organizations in the Vancouver area, including the Divest VPD Coalition, the UBC Women’s Centre, the UBC Social Justice Centre, as well as various projects supporting housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Over the past summer, Thea led a historic campaign to pressure Vancouver City Council into funding research into decriminalizing poverty. Thea is looking forward to promoting reproductive justice and making the province of British Columbia a better place for all.
Kim Wiersma
Kim Wiersma is Masters of Social Work student, specializing in Clinical Counselling. She is a Penticton, BC resident and has an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Psychology from UBC Vancouver. Kim has experience working as a Behavioral Interventionist and Support Worker for individuals with disabilities and as a Recovery Worker in addictions services. She values community connection, laughter, and being outside in nature, and is passionate about social equity and building resilient and sustainable communities. She believes that every form of contraception should be made accessible and at no-cost to every individual who is seeking it.
Bree Gardner
Bree is a multi-disciplinary activist originally hailing from Dartmouth, NS. Trans-spectrum, chronically ill, queer, disabled, and experiencing poverty, Bree’s primary focus is on Safer Spaces, Harm Reduction, and Access to Healthcare. They are an abortion doula certified through Full Spectrum Doula Collective Canada, and a practicing herbalist. Bree has worked with music festivals across the country to provide safer spaces and harm reduction policies, spoken at numerous conferences, regularly teaches workshops, and formerly hosted a podcast addressing the ongoing concerns of grassroots organizing - particularly as it pertains to queer and trans-spectrum folks.
Sara Eftekhar
Sara is a newly graduated Nurse Practitioner. Her nursing career has spanned locally and internationally with a focus on women’s health and intimate partner violence. She has a graduate degree as a International Rotary Peace Fellow where she examined contraception use and its impact on women in Egypt. Her patient's experiences of inequity through the healthcare system have inspired her to enact systems change through advocacy and policy. She has helped with the implementation of canada’s first ever youth policies, legislation for paid leave for survivors of intimate partner violence and as part of the North Shore Coordinating Committee to End Violence Against Women in Relationships, she is leading the implementation of forensic nursing services at Lions Gate Hospital.
Jonathan Granirer
Jonathan Granirer is a fourth-year student studying Political Science and Economics at the University of Victoria. He is currently a UVic Senator, the Student Liaison for UVic’s Society for Students with Disabilities and is a former lead director at UVic’s Student Society. Jonathan is a young activist who is passionate about environmental activism and social justice. He first became concerned with universal prescription birth control after seeing his friends struggle to access prescription birth control due to financial barriers. He believes that it is important that British Colombians have access to prescription birth control regardless of their socio-economic class.
